Jeff Sessions
United States Senator from Alabama
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 1997- Serving with Richard Shelby
Preceded by	Howell T. Heflin
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2009)
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Blackshear Sessions
Alma mater	Huntingdon College

Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama to Abbie Powe and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Jr.^[1] His father owned a general store and then a farm equipment dealership. Sessions grew up in the small town of Hybart. In 1964 he became an Eagle Scout. In his adult life, he became a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

After attending school in nearby Camden, Sessions studied at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He was active in the Young Republicans and student body president there.^[2] Sessions received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Alabama in 1973.

Sessions became a practicing attorney first in Russellville and then in Mobile, where he now lives. He was also an army reservist in the 1970s, achieving the rank of captain.

Sessions and his wife Mary have three children: Mary Abigail, Ruth Walk, and Sam.

Following a two-year stint as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama (1975–1977), Sessions was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the United States Attorney for Alabama's Southern District, a position he held for 12 years. In 1986, Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship by Reagan. The nomination was killed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which refused by a 10-8 vote^[3] to let the nomination come to the Senate floor for a vote. Sessions' opponents accused him of "gross insensitivity” on racial issues.^[2] One of those voting against him was Democratic Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama.

Sessions was elected Alabama Attorney General in November 1994. In 1996, Sessions won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, after a runoff, and then defeated Democrat Roger Bedford, 52%-46% in the November general election.^[2] He succeeded Heflin, who had retired after 18 years in the Senate. In 2002, Sessions won re-election by defeating Democratic challenger and State Auditor Susan Parker. In August 2007, State Senator Vivian Davis Figures announced she will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Sessions in 2008.

Sessions was only the second freshman Republican Senator from Alabama since the Reconstruction, and gave Alabama two Republican senators, also a first since the Reconstruction. Sessions was easily reelected in 2002 becoming the first (or second, if one counts his colleague Richard Shelby, who switched from Democrat to Republican in 1994) Republican reelected to the Senate from Alabama.

Sessions was ranked by National Journal as the fifth-most conservative United States Senator in their March, 2007 conservative/liberal rankings[1]. He backs conservative Republican stances on foreign affairs, taxes, and social policy. He opposes abortion and illegal immigration. Sessions serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is its only member to have unsuccessfully faced the Committee before becoming a senator. Sessions was a supporter of the "nuclear option," a tactic favored by then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the spring of 2005 to stop filibusters of judicial nominees. When 14 Senators led by Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska struck a deal to avert the option, Sessions was one of the agreement's most severe critics.

An November 2007 poll shows Sessions has a 60% approval rating, with 30% disapproving.[2]

On September 25, 2005, he spoke at a rally attended by 400 people in Washington, D.C. in favor of the war in Iraq. It was held in opposition to an anti-war protest held the day before that was attended by 100,000 people. Sessions spoke of the anti-war protesters, saying "The group who spoke here the other day did not represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don't know what they represent, other than to blame America first."^[4]

On October 5, 2005, he voted against a bill restricting treatment of terrorist suspects [3].

Sessions has taken a strong stand against any form of citizenship for illegal immigrants. Sessions was one of the most vocal critics of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, leading the charge to its being tabled (killed) on June 28, 2007.

Sessions was one of 37 Senators to vote against funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

On June 26, 2007, Sessions got into a brief exchange with Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa. Sessions stated that he did not support Grassley's amendment, but would yield time to Grassely, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did not allow it, prompting Grassley to responded, "I don't care if I speak, I can speak sometime else, but I would like to have time for debate on my amendment, and can I talk about why I should bring my amendment up."[4]

Sessions had unsuccessfully prosecuted three civil rights workers (including Albert Turner, a former aide to Martin Luther King, Jr), on a case of election fraud for the 1984 election. Sessions spent hours interrogating black voters in predominantly black counties, finding only 14 allegedly tampered ballots out of the more than 1.7 million ballots cast. The three civil rights workers were acquitted after four hours of jury deliberation.^[3]

During his nomination to federal court, it was revealed that Sessions had once labeled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) "un-American," "Communist-inspired," and had said that they "forced civil rights down the throats of people." At his confirmation hearings, Sessions said that the groups could be un-American when "they involve themselves in un-American positions" in foreign policy.^[3] Sessions also stated about the Ku Klux Klan, "I used to think they're OK," until he learned that some Klan members were "pot smokers". Sessions claims he was joking or misunderstood.^[5]

On September 9, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Sessions called his former law professor, Harold Apolinsky, co-author of Sessions' legislation repealing the federal estate tax, which had lost momentum in Congress, and left a voicemail: "[Arizona Sen.] Jon Kyl and I were talking about the estate tax. If we knew anybody that owned a business that lost life in the storm, that would be something we could push back with."^[6]

Sessions was one of only nine opponents of Senator John McCain's anti-torture amendment. Sessions supports Vice President Dick Cheney's proposal to exempt the CIA from any ban on torture.

Sessions has long been a supporter of federalism including opposition to parts of the Voting Rights Act, which he described as a "piece of intrusive legislation".^[3] In 2006 he was in favor of letting it expire, and also said that Congress should consider if it was needed in some northern cities and states.^[7] He later voted in favor of extending it.^[8][9]

On the morning of Monday, December 17th, 2007, a weblog claimed that Sessions said in a debate on the Senate floor over warrantless wiretapping and FISA legislation that "The civil libertarians among us would rather defend the constitution than protect our nation’s security."^[10] Although the author of the weblog claimed it to have been the case, no mention of the event is in the official record, and neither the weblog author nor other interested parties have, as of yet, been able to produce supporting video, and their bias against Sessions' position on the issue at hand is evident. Those willing to believe the statement, on the basis of the claim of a single weblogger, have criticized him over this, noting that by the oath of office as a Senator, Sessions is sworn to "protect the constitution."

• United States Senator Jeff Sessions, U.S. Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jeff Sessions profile

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